Aaron Roden appears for a status check before Judge Gary Starnes at the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Courts Building on Tuesday.A man accused of vandalizing Westview Elementary School will have to wait more than a month for a mental health evaluation, a Hamilton County judge said Tuesday.
Police said Aaron Roden, 22, broke into the school early on the morning of Aug. 12. He shattered windows in at least 15 classrooms and smashed furniture, flower pots, toilets and ceiling tiles. When police arrived, they found Roden covered in sweat and hanging from a TV holder secured to the school's rafters. He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault on an officer, vandalism over $60,000 and burglary.
Sessions Court Judge Gary Starnes pointed out that since his arrest, Roden has spent time in Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute and Joe Johnson Mental Health Center as well as the Hamilton County Jail. Though Starnes ordered a mental health evaluation earlier this month, neither facility has returned results.
Starnes expressed frustration with the slow process. Roden's attorney, Assistant District Public Defender David Underwood, told Starnes that Joe Johnson Mental Health Center was unable to make a determination when Roden visited the facility.
When Roden entered the courtroom in shackles, wearing a red jumpsuit and a shaggier beard than pictured in his booking photo six weeks ago, Starnes explained the situation.
Moccasin Bend, he said, is backed up.
"They're inundated and there's no money to treat everybody," Starnes said.
Starnes then called Moccasin Bend from his office. He reported that Roden's evaluation is scheduled for Oct. 30, and he set a new court date for Nov. 12. In the meantime, Roden likely will remain in the jail.
"I think the judge seemed to me to be disturbed, as I am, about the length of time this all is taking," Roden's father, Mike Roden, said outside the courtroom Tuesday.
Mike Roden said his son has suffered from mental health and behavioral problems for much of his life. He was given a preliminary diagnosis of bipolar disorder when he was 16. But doctors told his parents the boy's brain was still developing, and Mike Roden said he and his wife have never believed their son's problems can be completely explained by that diagnosis.
He said he's worried the jail doesn't have the resources to help his son recover.
"Any time he's at a correctional facility, that's disturbing because I don't think that's where he belongs," Mike Roden said.
The August rampage came after Aaron Roden broke up with his girlfriend, who lives near the school, his parents said. Roden had no other connection to Westview.
About a week before the incident there, Roden was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault after police said he stabbed another man in the neck during a party at a North Shore condominium.
Roden's appearance in sessions court Tuesday addressed charges in both incidents. The new date will allow time for the evaluation's results to be reviewed.
Mike Roden said he hopes his son will be one of the first defendants accepted into Hamilton County's new mental health court. The court would aim to offer offenders an alternative to jail with treatment programs and opportunities for dismissing or commuting sentences in some cases.
But the court is still in its planning stages, Assistant District Public Defender Anna Protano-Biggs said last week. No specific cases are being considered.
"I think that would be a wonderful thing," Mike Roden said. "I hope that gets accomplished. And I hope it gets accomplished in time for Aaron."
Mike Roden said he remains hopeful that this story's "silver lining" will be a full and clear picture of his son's mental health and a plan for treatment.
"Otherwise," Mike Roden said, "my fear is that it's a cycle that's going to repeat."
Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at 423-757-6347 or cwiseman@timesfreepress.com.